26 THE CHEMISTRY OF CREATION. 



were but four fire, air, earth, and water. But 

 in truth none of these were elements ; three are 

 compounds ; that is, each consists of two or more 

 substances, and the fourth (fire) is only a con- 

 dition of substances undergoing rapid chemical 

 union. What then is an element? It may be 

 described as a simple substance, which cannot be 

 analyzed, or, in more popular terms, subdivided 

 into two or more different substances. As an 

 example we may select the element iron. All 

 experiments upon this substance lead to the con- 

 clusion that it cannot be decomposed or sub- 

 divided into anything else than this simple ele- 

 ment iron. Let the chemist try his powers on 

 the other hand upon water; very different is 

 the result; the fluid disappears, and two gases 

 arise, thus informing us of the fact that water is 

 a compound, while iron is a simple substance. 

 Such then, is the difference between an element 

 and a compound. To lay down the constitu- 

 tion of an element in precise terms, we should 

 say it is a simple substance, separate and dis- 

 tinct from all other substances, and incapable 

 of being resolved into any further constituents. 

 Yet it is to be remembered that an element 

 is proved to be so only negatively ; that is to 

 say, we cannot discover it to be anything else 

 by our present apparatus and means of analysis. 

 It may, or may not, remain for the chemists of 



